James Biggin, MD of distributor Steel City Marketing, took part in the recent Manchester Marathon alongside 42,000 other runners on a glorious Sunday, with the route snaking from Old Trafford to Altrincham before finishing in the city centre.
After running the York Marathon last October, James achieved a 10-minute personal best (2:45:53), earning him selection to represent England Masters in the “Home Nations”. This meant starting Manchester Marathon in the white wave, just behind the elite runners.
Setting off and maintaining pace with the 2:45 pacer throughout, James clung on to just dip under the magical 2:45 mark, finishing in 2:44:50. He placed 229th overall and 5th in his age category.
“I wasn’t planning to push for that time, given I am running Chicago Marathon in October with my wife, but the conditions were perfect. There was no wind, it wasn’t too warm and training had gone well.
Running with the pacer made it stress-free until those last two tough miles. It was such a great, well supported event. There was so much noise, music, bands, DJs, and the volunteers were brilliant. That’s how to do it Manchester!” James explains.
This time secures a guaranteed entry into Berlin Marathon 2027.
The pressure is off a little in Chicago now. As one of the Marathon Majors, it is one to savour and enjoy – but there’s no chance he won’t try to shave a little more off his PB time.
